Zanessa heartbound!
by zanessahsmfan14
Summary: A cute Zanessa story, with many adaptations from the movie. Vanessa is tired of always having to change her school and friends. But when she comes to East High, and meets Zac and many new people,....her life changes.
1. Leaving San Jose

**A/N This is a Zanessa story, and is similar to high school musical, but the general story is original. Hope you like it! ENJOY!**

"Mom, do we really have to move?" Vanessa asked her mother, sadly. "Yes, darling, I'm afraid so." Her mother replied.

Vanessa was moving to Alberquerque from San Jose which seemed like the millionth time because her father always got transferred from one place to the other on account of work.

She always had to say goodbye to her friends in that place and go to a new school. She had a younger sister, Stella and her parents- Greg and Gina Hudgens.

Vanessa was in the eleventh grade and the new school her parents got her into in Alberquerque was East High.

After the long journey through flight, they finally went into their newly bought house. "It is opposite to the park, very good!" Vanessa thought. She was a nature lover. She was starting her school the next day, hence she went to get ready and decide what to wear for her first day of the new school, "again."

The next day, Vanessa woke up early just to see if all the necessary items she required for her first day were kept in place. According to her mother, she had to first go the Principal and give him her form. She had never been to East High before, so she thought that she might have a tough time finding the Principal's office.

And she was right. The school was h-uge. The students were scattered everywhere talking in groups. She was pretty shy to ask a student where his office was, so she asked a teacher. The teacher smiled at her, and showed her the way. When she reached the Principal's office, she knocked on the door and, "Come in," she heard.

Principal Dave Matsui was there, and took her form. "Looking at your constant good averages in your previous schools, I expect you'll shine very nicely here at East High, Miss Hudgens. If you want any assistance, please feel free to ask me or any one of our teachers." He smiled at her and she returned it.

"You will get your permanent locker tomorrow." He added.

"Thank you, sir." She said.

She went out of his room and had a look at her time table. "Well, first period, Social Studies." She looked around. "I wonder where that class is!" She kept walking until she found a guy who was walking alone. Probably the only one who is not talking to anybody in a group.

"Excuse me," she requested. He turned around and saw Vanessa. "Can you please show me where the class for social studies?" He had golden- brown hair and blue eyes. He was carrying a couple of books in his hand.

"Sure, its on the second floor, right near the stairs." He told her.

"Thanks." Vanessa gave a quick smile and was about to turn away when, "Hey, I don't think I have seen you before. Are you new here?" He asked.

Vanessa nodded. "Yeah."

"Hi, I'm Zac." He held his hand out.

"Vanessa." She shook it.

**A/N This is my first chapter and i will be adding more. Please review!**


	2. Alyson, a good friend

**A/N Here goes. This is the second chapter. Many new characters will also be introduced here.**

He gave her a soft smile and said, "Well, hope you like East High." She grinned and went up the stairs on her way to her classroom. The teacher introduced her to others in the class and continued the lesson.

After the lesson was over, a girl with waist-length blonde hair walked up to her. "Hi, I'm Alyson." She looked pretty and fair. "Hi Alyson." Vanessa greeted.

"Where did you come from?" Alyson enquired.

"San Jose."

"So, do you like East High?"

"Ummm….So far, yeah!" It was true. Vanessa really did like East High. Even though she hadn't interacted with anybody other than the Principal, Zac and now, Alyson, she felt East High was great.

"That's great! Well, I'd better run to my other class. It was great talking to you!" Alyson waved. "Alyson, hold on a second. Here in my time table, it says that there's a free period. We've never had that before. What do we do then?" Vanessa asked.

She laughed. "Anything you want to. Hey, you want me to show you around the school during the free period?"

"That would be perfect." Vanessa replied.

"My pleasure. See you then!" And she went off.

The free period was during their fifth period, right before lunch. She had a pretty tough time finding where the rest of the classes were, but managed well. When the bell for the fifth period rang, she went out of her class and went down back to first floor, where she had first entered East High.

She didn't know where to meet Alyson, so she waited for her by sitting on one of the benches fixed against the wall. After a few minutes, she saw Alyson cueing her to come to the centre of the hall. She went there, "Hi, sorry I was late. I couldn't find where you were!" Alyson said. "So where do you want to go first?"

"Anywhere!" Vanessa replied.

Alyson took her to the theatre, cafeteria, library and showed her where every class was. Later, she took her to the school ground where they found some of the boys playing basketball.

"Those guys are the East High Wildcat Basketball players. They won us many championships and I think they are practicing for another one now."

"Basketball?" Vanessa was a trained basketball player from her previous schools. She looked at the basketball players from a sportsperson's eyes and saw that they were playing pretty well.

"See the blonde one? That's Zac Efron. The captain and best player on the team and the most popular guy at school." Alyson pointed at one of the players.

Since Vanessa had already met him before, it was easy for her to recognize him from a distance. When Alyson pulled her to show her other places, Vanessa didn't move. She was watching the guys play basketball. "I think I found out what their strategy is. They might actually pull it off when they go to their championship." Vanessa said.

"What are you talking about? Wait…do you play basketball?"

This time, Vanessa turned. "Yeah, I've been training since I was eight years old."

"Wow!" Alyson said, impressed. "Hey, you want to go over there and talk to them?"

"You know those guys?"

"Not all of them. But I do know Zac and a few others. Shall we?"

Vanessa nodded, it was pretty exciting now.

**A/N Please Review!!**


	3. The basketball game

**A/N Here is the third chapter!**

The duo walked over to them and the boys were so engrossed in their game that they only noticed the girls when they came near. Zac had the ball in his hand and was the last to notice them. He threw a ball aiming for the basket, and it went in. Nothing but net. "And he scores!" he exclaimed.

Vanessa was impressed. When she first met Zac, she really didn't think that he would be captain of their team. Chad, a guy with really curly hair asked, "Hey Alyson. Who's this?" Zac turned to look at the two girls. The new girl that he had met earlier that day was standing next to Alyson.

"Hi guys! Meet my new friend, Vanessa." Alyson introduced.

Vanessa heard a lot of 'hey's and 'hi's and responded to all of that with, "Hi!"

"You're the girl I met this morning, right?" Zac asked.

"Yeah, I didn't know you play basketball." Vanessa told him.

Before Zac could answer, "Play basketball? He's the king here! He's the captain and the best guy we've ever had!" Chad said. Zac blushed.

"Wow! That's amazing." Vanessa replied. "I saw all of you playing from a distance. It looked pretty good. Guess you're all working really hard for the championships, huh?"

"Very hard. We really want to win this time." Zac told her.

"And I'm pretty sure you will. All of you are amazing players. I mean, the co-ordination and trust and all, it will really help you guys." Vanessa assured.

There was a silence. No one spoke anything. They were all happy and impressed at what Vanessa just said. "You play basketball?" Chad asked.

Alyson answered for her. "She told me that she is a trained player from all of her previous schools."

Wow! The boys were really amazed. "How many years exactly have you been learning to play?" Zac asked her.

"Ever since I was eight years old."

"Awesome. You think you can show us what you've got?" Chad asked her, challengingly. "Right now?"

"Of course!" Vanessa said.

"Vanessa will beat you guys." Alyson said. All the boys looked at each other. That was seriously a challenge!

Vanessa grinned and thanked her in silently.

"So who am I up against?" She looked at all the boys individually. The boys murmured among themselves. "Do you think you can beat our captain at your first try?" A guy named Zeke, asked her.

Vanessa looked at Zac. He looked at her. She smiled and said, "If he's ready!"

"Don't worry, I am." Zac reassured, smilingly. There was a moment of silence, and all the boys and Alyson cleared out, giving them space to play. Vanessa and Zac looked at each other one more time, until they got the ball from Chad.

"You guys know the rules. First player to get three points wins. You have ten minutes." Chad said.

The game had started. Vanessa got the ball first and there was a lot of dribbling, grabbing shooting, catching until Vanessa finally got her first point. She was too busy continuing her game to notice everybody around cheering. There was more running around. Zac got his first point. Seven minutes were up. Zac got another point. Nine minutes and forty seconds. Vanessa grabbed the ball from Zac and tried to shoot the ball when she was almost four metres away. The ball went in. Ten minutes were up. Alyson and the boys were cheering very loudly. "That was amazing!" Zac exclaimed.

"Thanks, but I'm not as good as you. You were so great out there!" Vanessa said.

The crowd came closer and Alyson hugged Vanessa. "Vanessa, that was an amazing game!! I've never seen two people play that well!"

"Thanks!" Vanessa replied, feeling really happy. The game was well played. Zac really was an amazing player. She loved playing with him.

"Zac, Vanessa great game! Vanessa, I think you are the first girl I've seen who plays basketball so well!"

Everybody kept praising Vanessa for playing well. Zac appreciated her a lot of times himself. The bell rang. It was lunch time. "All that cheering is making me hungry. Vanessa, lets go to the cafeteria." Alyson told her.

"I think we should get going too." Chad said.

When most of the crowd was gone, Zac cued Vanessa to stay back for a few minutes. Alyson left asking her to come quickly. When everyone left, "You were awesome out there." Zac told her once again.

Vanessa smiled and thanked him, once again. "I am really looking forward to playing with you another time." She told him.

"Same here." There was an awkward silence. Only in this silence did Vanessa realize how cute Zac was. Only now did Zac realize how beautiful Vanessa was. They looked away immediately once they noticed they were looking at each other.

"I guess I'll see you later." Zac said.

"Yeah," Vanessa nodded. "Bye."

"Bye."

**A/N Please review!**


	4. Parks are so beautiful!

**A/N As I said before, there are a lot of adaptations from the movie. So, there might be many similarities. Hope you like it! :)**

"Vanessa! Over here!" Alyson waved over to Vanessa in the cafeteria. Vanessa collected her tray and went to a corner of the cafeteria where Alyson was sitting along with a few other girls. They were in a table close to the window.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." Vanessa apologized. She looked at the three other girls sitting at that table and looked back at Alyson, confused.

"This is Vanessa. Vanessa, this is Tracy, Susan and Fiona," She pointed at the other girls. "Hi!" They greeted each other. Vanessa sat down on the lunch table. "Why were you late?" Tracy asked.

"Oh! Um, I was just talking to Zac, so it took a little time."

"Zac?" Fiona repeated. Vanessa nodded. "As in, Zac Efron?" Fiona asked once again.

"Yeah."

"Wow! You met him? How? When?" Susan asked.

Vanessa chuckled. "It's nothing really. Alyson was just showing me around. We happened to see those guys playing basketball in the ground so we went over to talk to them."

"That's great! Such a coincidence that you met the most popular guy of our school on your very first day!" Tracy said.

"And played basketball with him," Alyson added.

The girls looked at Vanessa with shock. Then there was a sudden rush of 'wow's' and 'you're so lucky's'. Vanessa smiled at them. "I have a question. If there's a most popular guy in this school, there must be a most popular girl, too, right?"

The girls laughed. "Of course!"

"Well, who is it?" Vanessa asked.

"See that blonde girl who's sitting write in the center table? Her name is Ashley. She's the most popular girl." Alyson explained just like the way she showed her the most popular guy.

"Oh!" Vanessa looked at Ashley. Ashley was simply laughing at a joke. She was beautiful and seemed nice.

That day, the lunch got over quickly. Vanessa bid goodbye to Alyson and the other girls and thanked Alyson for showing her around. They exchanged the mobile numbers and left to class. The three classes after lunch were pretty interesting. Vanessa went home immediately once the last bell for the day rang.

She told her mother about her new school and that she really liked it. Vanessa also mentioned to her about Zac and the basketball game. Her mom knew how much she loved basketball, so she really didn't have any separate reaction on that account.

After sunset, Vanessa made her way across the road and to check out the new park. She took a complete, long round and really liked that place. She reviewed the events of what happened that day at school. She went to sit on one of the park benches when she got tired of walking around. But she saw somebody already sitting there. Somebody familiar.

"Zac!" she exclaimed.

Zac turned around and saw Vanessa. He was doing something in his cell phone. "Vanessa! You're here too?"

"Yeah! I love parks and nature. You too?"

"I'm sitting in a park at night which is pretty lonely and is extremely dark. I think that would be a yes." Zac replied.

Vanessa laughed. "Hey, you can't complain of darkness. The park lights are switched on."

Zac smiled sheepishly. Vanessa sat down on the bench next to him. "Everybody tells me that you're the most popular guy at school. The basketball thing is really boosting you guys up, huh?"

"Unless we lose."

"You don't think you'll win?" Vanessa asked him.

"The competition this time is really tough. The guys of the other school are like…well…man-eaters! We're going to lose for sure."

Vanessa grinned at the expression. "Come on, Zac, if you be this negative, you might really lose. I saw you guys play. You were pretty good."

Zac didn't reply. "Is your coach really hard on you?" Vanessa questioned.

"He's my dad. He makes us practice a lot. I just hope that helps us."

"Don't worry. It will. Hey, just enjoy what you're doing. Forget about whether you guys will win or lose. That's what I always do."

Zac nodded. "So, Zac what do you do other than basketball?"

"Snowboarding, more basketball." Zac told her.

She punched him in his arm. "I love reading books and stuff." He finally said. "What about you?"

"Me too. But I have always felt like there's a whole other person inside of me just trying to find a way to come out. But I don't know what that person does, yet. I guess I have not been able to realize it because I've moved almost every year." Vanessa said, staring at the beautiful scenery of the park.

"Wow! Wish I felt the same way."

Vanessa looked at him and they smiled.

"So, Vanessa, is basketball the only sport you're good at?" Zac asked.

"Well, I'm pretty good at running too." She said.

"Really? Wanna race?" He challenged.

"Not now."

"Hey, come on! What happened to the person waiting inside of you? Maybe all that person does is race against me. And you're not even giving it the chance!" He pulled her hand. Vanessa stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, I agree, that was pretty lame. Just one race. Please?"

"Ok, just one."

They went to the cemented pathway of the park. Since not many people were there in the park, they decided to run the entire lap. It started. Vanessa ran, with all her might, and raced Zac at the beginning. But towards the end, Zac caught up with her and went to the finish line one second before she reached there.

The two of them were panting heavily. "You're pretty fast." Zac appreciated in a formal way.

"Thanks. You're fast too." She replied in the same manner.

They laughed at each other and decided it was time to go home. "Zac, I'd better go now. Mom might be worried. It's getting late." Vanessa said.

"Yeah, I'd better go too. Where is your house anyway?" he asked.

"Right across the street."

"Really? My house is only two blocks away."

"Wow! Guess we can meet each other more often." Vanessa said, blushing a little.

"That would be perfect. You're a great person to talk to." She smiled. "What's your number?" Zac asked. She told him. The two of them bid bye to each other and, "I will meet you at school." They said.

**A/N Dont forget to review! Pls! :)**


	5. Beautiful voices

**A/N Thanks for the reviews! This is the fifth chapter...**

Vanessa quickly dressed the next morning, getting ready to go to school. "Bye mom!" she said, and was off. Her dad dropped her off, and she waved goodbye. She was early to school that day, so the school wasn't entirely filled with students running here and there.

She saw somebody wave to Vanessa and started coming towards her. She didn't know who she was, but, "Are you Vanessa Hudgens?" the girl asked. Vanessa nodded.

"Well, Our headmaster told me to inform you that your locker is available now."

"Really? Wow! Where is it?" Vanessa asked, and the girl told her and also gave her the combination for it. Vanessa immediately went to a corridor that the girl had mentioned. "Let's see, third from the right," she told herself. She walked up to it and opened it with the combination that the girl had given her.

She kept everything required inside, and also tried decorating it in every way possible with the materials she had brought from home. When she was done, it was almost time for the bell to ring. So, she walked to her first classroom.

"Vanessa!" Somebody cried, from behind. She turned around and saw Alyson walking to her. "Hey Alyson!" Vanessa greeted back.

"Vanessa, heard you talked to Zac yesterday night."

"How did you know?" Vanessa asked, surprised.

"Chad told me. So tell me everything."

"It's nothing really. We just talked."

"O-k," Alyson replied, but not actually believing it. The two of them had their first class together- drama class. Ms Darbus was their teacher, and to Vanessa's surprise, Zac and Chad was there too! Vanessa smiled and Zac smiled back. Alyson and Vanessa took two seats in the second-last row.

"Welcome, students. Before we start, I would like to educate you about our newest musical for the year- Twinkle Towne. I want each of you to give an audition, yes, dears, it is compulsory. I wish to see if any of you have the talent. So, are you ready to…what do youngsters say these days?...ah!... are you ready to show me what you've got?" Ms. Darbus smiled, and looked around.

Chad was sinking in his chair, and Zac was filled with dread. "I can't sing!" he thought. Vanessa was scared. "Mr.Danforth, why don't you give it a try?" the teacher asked. Chad sunk even more into his chair. The class sneered. "Ms Darbus, I don't know if I am qualified!" Everybody laughed. "You won't know that until you try!" She tried to make him do it. But no matter how much she tried, Chad wouldn't budge from his chair.

Vanessa tried having a glimpse of Chad, but couldn't because a blonde girl was covering her view. "It's Ashley!" she told herself, surprised that many of the people she knew where in this class.

"Ashley, what about you?" Ms Darbus asked, tired of forcing Chad. "Oh, no, Ms.Darbus."

"Ashley, give us a sense of why we gather in this classroom. Come here, and sing any song you like. You wish for a duet partner, you may choose him." Ashley looked at Zac eyeing him to be her partner. Zac mouthed no, shaking his head.

She stood up and walked to the front of the classroom. "Zac, will you be Ashley's partner?" Ms Darbus asked him. "Ms Darbus, I can't sing." He told her and class sneered again. Chad patted his shoulder understandably.

"Mr Efron, this is your class. You will have to sing, but not at this moment. Once Ashley is done, I would like you to sing along with our newest student." The minute Ms Darbus said that, everybody turned and looked at Vanessa. Vanessa didn't realize that Ms Darbus had just asked her to sing in front of everyone until they looked at her.

She was completely embarrassed. "Ms Darbus..," she began to say, but the teacher cut her off, "Ms Hudgens, please don't behave like everybody else. I'm only asking you to sing." Vanessa looked down, but nodded.

Alyson, sitting next to her, said, "Van, you're going to sing with Zac!"

"What?" Vanessa said, shocked. Apparently, she also forgot that Zac had also been told to sing. A duet. Her mind was wandering. She didn't know what to sing. Heck, she didn't even know whether she could sing! Zac wasn't feeling any more confident.

Ashley started to sing, and it was perfect. "Wish I had a voice like that!" Vanessa thought. Ashley sang really well, and once she was done, Ms Darbus called Zac and Vanessa to come forward. They didn't move. Alyson tried pushing Vanessa, and Chad, tried doing the same to Zac.

"Please do not waste our time; come forward." Ms Darbus told them. "Vanessa, go, and sing! You'll be great!" Ashley said when she returned to her seat. Vanessa smiled at her, and stood up. Zac sighed and stood up. The two of them walked forward eyeing each other.

"Vanessa, I have no idea how to sing, so, it'll be better if you take the lead and sing most of the lines," he whispered. "Hey! I don't know singing any better than you do! What song do you want to sing?" She asked him, whispering.

He thought for a moment. The entire class was staring at them. "Zac, Vanessa, if you will not mind, can you please sing a song with the lyrics I give you?" The teacher asked.

They were shocked, but they nodded. Better that than nothing. She gave them two copies of the same lyrics. It was named the Start of Something New. Vanessa let a sigh of relief when she saw that the boy singer starts the song. "Phew! Zac has to start." She thought and looked at him. He looked nervously at the paper knowing he was not going to get any help from Vanessa at this point. He tried forming a tune in his mind. He sang it out:

_Living In my own world,_

_Didn't understand._

_That anything could happen,_

_When you take a chance._

Vanessa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Zac started the four lines of the song, and also happened to sing it extremely well! "I won't be that good!" she thought, preparing herself for her next four lines. The class was silent for sometime. Evidently, they were also shocked from what they had just heard. She tried thinking of a tune that would match the tune of Zac's. She sang it out:

_I never believed in,_

_What I couldn't see._

_I never opened my heart,_

_To all the possibilities._

It sounded pretty good, so far. She tried looking at Alyson's face and when she did, she saw her open-mouthed, and very surprised. She grinned to herself and saw Zac looking at her, having a small smile on his face. She looked at him, to sing the next lines along with him.

_I know, that something has changed,_

_Never felt this way,_

_And right here tonight,_

_This could be the start of something new,_

_It feels so right to be here with you,_

_Oh_

_And now looking in your eyes,_

_I feel in my heart,_

_The start of something new._

Zac and Vanessa continued to sing, heartfelt, and once they were done with the last line, the entire class erupted into cheers and screams. Most of them couldn't believe that the captain of the basketball team and the new girl could sing. Nor could they believe the instant chemistry which appeared between the new girl and the popular guy. It was a wonderful moment.

Vanessa laughed, unable to grasp what's happening. It all happened to soon, and she knew that Zac felt the exact same way when she looked at him. "He's amazing." She thought.

"I can't believe it! I can actually sing!" Zac thought, really happy with himself. The class continued to cheer and the look on Chad's face told him that he and Vanessa had done a great job. "Vanessa's amazing," he told himself. The bell rang, and everybody cleared. Alyson told Vanessa how much she loved that class, listening to the two of them sing.

Luckily for them, the next period was free. Zac waited for Vanessa and Alyson to come. "Vanessa, today, I won't be able to stay with you during this hour. I have something to catch up on. Why don't you and Zac hang around now?" she suggested and asked the same to Zac.

"Sure," he said. Zac and Vanessa left the room, walking along the corridor. "I can't believe we can actually sing!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Yeah! It was so weird out there!"

"Tell me about it," Vanessa said.

"Zac, Vanessa!" Somebody called. They turned around to see Ms Darbus. "You two are qualified for the lead roles of our play. Come to the callbacks which will be held one week from now, during the free period. Yes?"

They nodded, and thanked her. "Wow, this is getting really exciting!" Vanessa said. Zac couldn't believe it either.

After some time, "So where do you want to go first?" he asked.

"Alyson already showed me everything yesterday." Vanessa thought for a moment. "Will you guys be practicing basketball now?"

Zac shook his head.

"Great! Then probably we could just go for a stroll around the grounds of this school," she said. In a few minutes, they were there. "So, Zac, do you have a girlfriend?" Vanessa asked playfully.

"Me? No…"

"Seriously? That's surprising. The most popular guy doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, I did have one a year back, but not anymore."

"Was it Ashley?"

"How do you know? Wait, do you know her?"

"Hey, it's not that hard to guess, the most popular guy dating the most popular girl!"

Zac laughed. "So what about you? Do you have a boyfriend?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Never had one, either."

"That's hard to believe! A beautiful girl like you…"

Vanessa blushed and cut him off before he could say anything else, "Why, thank you!" There was an awkward silence. Zac and Vanessa continued walking around, but didn't say a word.

"Vanessa…umm, are you free tonight?" Zac asked her, blushing. Vanessa didn't notice this one coming at all. She was surprised when she heard that. She looked at him, smiled and said, "Make my first date special."

And the bell rang.

**A/N Hope you like it! **


	6. Vanessa's first date

**A/N Here is the next chapter...its really long, hope you like it!**

Little did they know that they were actually being overheard by the school reporter. "Oh boy, this is exciting news!" the boy thought and went away.

Zac and Vanessa also went to their classes, keeping in mind the wonderful thing that had just happened. The rest of the day went on absolutely perfect. Zac and Vanessa really didn't meet each other, but they could feel each other's presence. At lunch, Vanessa and Alyson sat together at their usual table. No one joined them today.

"It's nice just the two of us," Vanessa said. Alyson nodded. Vanessa instinctively thought about the free period again and blushed. "Hey, why are you blushing?" Alyson asked.

Vanessa couldn't keep it in her any longer. Making sure nobody could hear, Vanessa whispered to Alyson, "Somebody asked me out." She could tell Alyson was really excited.

"What! Who? Wait a second….is it Zac?" she asked.

"Yes!"

"Wow! Vanessa, that's amazing! It's only your second day here, and you already got a date! And not just any date…it's the Efron!" Alyson exclaimed.

Vanessa laughed and saw a guy coming toward their table. It was Chad. "Ladies, mind if I join you?" he asked curtly.

"What happened? You and your team mates decided to part ways?" Alyson asked. Vanessa grinned at her friend.

"No," he made a face at Alyson. "I decided to spend some quality time with my girlfriends."

"Girlfriends? Chad…please!" She punched him on his arm, hard.

"Ouch! So can I join you?" he asked. Alyson nodded and made way for him to sit. He kept his tray on the table and asked, "And why are you so silent?" Chad asked Vanessa.

"Don't hassle the new girl," Alyson retorted.

"I'm not hassling anybody; I was just asking Vanessa a question." Chad smiled. Vanessa felt really good to be here. It was only her second day, and her new friends were behaving as if they knew her for a long time. She didn't want to break this connection.

"I'm just looking at the two of you fight, that's all." She replied.

"Yeah, doesn't seem like it…Looks to me your distracted by something else." Chad guessed.

"Guess who asked her out?" Alyson asked Chad.

"Wait, is it Sam?" Chad asked. Alyson rolled her eyes.

"Who?" Vanessa asked.

"Ok, guess it isn't him. So, is it Michael? Or Lucas? Or Jake?" Chad thought very hard. Alyson pretended to ignore him, and Vanessa didn't know any of those people.

"Is it…" Chad started, but Alyson cut him off. "Do you really think Vanessa knows all these people? It's only her second day!!" she said, irritated.

"Well, who is it?" Chad asked.

"Chad, come on, who else does Vanessa know other than you, me, and …" she paused, waiting for Chad to complete it, but in vain.

"Hey, I don't know…maybe she met somebody in her class or something." He spoke.

"Chad, you're hopeless…Who is your best friend?" Alyson asked.

"Zac." He replied.

"And…" Alyson and Vanessa were waiting for an answer. After sometime of thinking, "Zac asked you out?" he asked Vanessa. She nodded. "I can't believe it! That dude didn't tell me!" Chad said.

"It took you long enough," Alyson told him, chewing on her sandwich. Zac was picking up his tray now, and searched for the basketball team table. "Zac!" his friend called. He looked at them, but was surprised to see that Chad wasn't there. "Where's Chad?" he asked.

"He's sitting with Alyson." They informed. Zac nodded and searched for them. He saw Alyson, Chad and Vanessa sitting on a table. He walked toward them, suddenly remembering what had happened four periods back.

"Hey guys," he greeted. Chad and Alyson saw him, laughed, and hi-fived.

"Cut it out, guys." Vanessa told them.

"You told them?" Zac asked. He signaled Vanessa to move over so he could sit down. "Well, Alyson guessed when I gave her a hint," She said.

"Yeah, I guessed on the first try! They didn't even give me a hint." Chad lied.

"Yeah right, at that time, it sounded like you forgot you had a friend named Zac." Alyson said.

"Shut up." Chad told her. Alyson grinned.

"So, Zac, where are you planning to take her?" Alyson asked.

"Al, you wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for Vanessa, do you?" Zac replied.

Alyson took her tiny water bottle and threw it at Zac. He caught it just in time. Vanessa simply laughed. She continued to eat her food while listening to their conversation.

"So, seems like you guys know each other for a long time." She said.

"Not that long, really. We've been really good friends since, last year or something." Alyson said.

"Yeah, she's really desperate to become popular," Chad sneered.

"Uh," Alyson took Chad's bottle and threw it at him.

"Al, I'll die of thirst if I don't drink the contents of that container." Chad told her.

"Ha-ha, Very funny." she said.

"Great! So Zac and Vanessa, promise to tell us what happened in your date latest by tonight?" Alyson asked them.

They laughed. "Of course!" Vanessa said. The bell rang, and all of them returned to their respective classes. They met only after school, and the four of them made sure they had each other's number.

The minute Vanessa reached home, she received a text. It said: "Hey Van, make sure to be ready by 6.30. And I will also take you to dinner. Will come over to pick you up. Zac."

Vanessa became totally excited and told her mom the entire thing. Stella overheard her, and teased her the entire time. She got ready by 6.30 and was still in her room, giving the last touch-ups when she heard the doorbell.

Her mom opened the door and saw a very handsome Youngman standing at the doorstep. "Miss Hudgens, Is Vanessa there?" he asked.

"Oh, you must be Zac! Come on in. Vanessa will be ready in a few minutes." Her mom said.

He came inside the house for the first time, and sat down on the couch. Vanessa came down, and saw Zac. "Hi, I'm ready," she said, smiling. Zac looked at the beautiful Vanessa and after bidding goodbye to her mom and Stella, they were off.

"So where exactly are we going?" Vanessa asked him.

"You wouldn't know even if I told you." Zac told her. Vanessa grinned. They caught a cab and were on their way to something Zac called 'The View'. Sounded nice. It took quite a bit of time to reach there, but when they were there, "Why is it called the View?" she asked Zac. Zac could see that she didn't think much of this place, currently.

"Well, you have climb 500 steps in order to see the View of the entire Alberquerque. You told me you loved nature. Since I loved this place, I thought you would too." He explained.

"That's great Zac, but do we really have to climb 500 steps?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so." He laughed. Vanessa sighed.

"Hey, you're an athlete, you are supposed to able to complete them in seconds!" he told her.

"Ok, I'll do it."

Half the way up the stairs, they had a race. They shot up the stairs like a pair of cheetahs. Vanessa won. "I beat you!" she exclaimed.

"Guess you're the better stair-climber or something." Troy defended himself. The duo walked to a wall, and when Vanessa saw beyond it, she shrieked. Not of horror, but of wonder. The view was absolutely stunning. Sure enough, she could see the entire of Alberquerque.

"It is beautiful! Amazing!" she said.

"I know. I come here at least once in every month."

"Thanks for showing this place to me. It's one of the greatest gifts a girl like me could get."

Zac looked at her and smiled. They kept chatting for a long time. At one point, "It's cold out here," Vanessa said, rubbing her arms, as she had unfortunately worn a sleeveless top.

"You're on a higher altitude, you're bound to feel like that." Zac joked. Vanessa laughed, but still feeling cold. In order to help her, Zac removed his jacket (he had brought it with him) and put it around Vanessa.

Vanessa blushed, but it helped her feel better. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome."

Before they knew it, it was 9 'o'clock. They climbed down the staircase again, with Vanessa still having Zac's jacket. "Where are we going for dinner?" she asked.

"You wouldn't know if I told you," he repeated.

"Zac, just tell me," she said, pushing him a little.

"Ok, we're going to a place named Alphonso's." he replied. They took another cab and went there. Vanessa really liked that place. They sat at a table (which had been reserved for them, Vanessa guessed Zac did it) and ordered their meal.

"So, Zac, why did you and Ashley break up?" Vanessa asked, out of the blue.

"Well, it was actually because of her dad. He is super strict. So, when he found out that we were together, he grounded Ashley and told us not to go out again. So, we broke up." He told her.

"Does that mean you still like each other?" she asked, trying to make it not sound so obvious that she cared. Zac looked into her eyes, and understood what she actually meant. "Not any more. We're just friends now." He reassured.

Vanessa let a sigh of relief. She forgot that she was still wearing his jacket. But later, "Oh, Zac, I'm sorry, I forgot to return it." She started to take the jacket off, "Don't worry about it. You can give it later." He said.

The food arrived. They ate in silence for sometime. "You like your first date?" he asked.

Vanessa grinned, "Of course! I couldn't have imagined my first date with anyone more special."

"Thank you! You're pretty great yourself, you know."

They smiled at each other and the conversation kept going. The looked like as if they had known each other for a very long time. Once they were done, Zac paid the money and the two of them went out. Only then did Vanessa notice that the restaurant was pretty close to her house as she could see the park from there.

Vanessa removed the jacket and returned it to Zac. They started to walk. "Zac, did you ever think that you could actually sing?"

"No, I never tried; because I thought I couldn't do it. All I thought about was basketball."

"Are you sure you want to do the callbacks?" she asked, nervously.

"Why, don't you?"

"I don't know." She halted and turned to him. "Remember, the other day, I told you about a whole new person being inside of me?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I have this crazy feeling that she's kind of…you know, gone."

"I don't understand."

"When I sang with you the other day, it was so intense and all that, and I could feel everything leave me, and only the wonderful feeling of singing with you remained. I've never felt this way before, it was something really different."

"I know what you mean. At that time, I felt like as if singing was the only thing I ever had. But I don't know why."

Vanessa beamed at him. "So we're ready to do the callbacks then?"

"Of course!" He held out his hand, and Vanessa shook it. "Deal!"

Instinctively, they walked to the park, to linger around there for sometime. It was the place where they really got to know each other. As they walked around, inside the park, Vanessa checked her watch. It was 10.45. "Wow! Zac, it's really late, I think its time I head home."

Zac didn't reply. Instead, he walked to a nearby bush and plucked a flower and gave it to Vanessa. "Can I have this dance?" he asked. Vanessa was very excited. She took the flower and accepted his invite.

The couple danced for a long time, and was having the time of their lives. After fifteen minutes of continuous dancing, Zac twirled her around, and Vanessa unable to keep her step at the last turn, tripped and fell towards him. But he caught her. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and their heads were coming closer. When they touched, there was only a little distance from their lips. Vanessa closed her eyes, and asked, "Zac, are you sure?"

"Definitely," he whispered. He closed his eyes, and they shared a sweet, passionate kiss. They felt a flash of light at them, but didn't really care at that moment. When they were done, they hugged each other.

They moved apart, "Zac, thanks for the most wonderful day of my entire life."

"You're welcome," he replied. They looked at each other, and this time, they laughed. "Imagine telling Chad about our date! I wonder what his reaction would be." Vanessa said, still laughing.

"I can imagine what it might be," Zac laughed.

"Guess I got to go now, bye Zac." She bid him goodbye and he did the same.

She went home, and plopped on to her bed, picked up her phone and narrated all the events to Alyson. When she mentioned the last part, Alyson screamed in delight. She slept thinking of the most magical night.

Next day at school, she saw Alyson waving at her. She waved back, and walked to her. When she saw her face more clearly, she noticed that Alyson was a little tense. She had a newspaper in her hand.

"What happened? Why do you look worried?"

Alyson handed her the paper. There it was, the school newspaper, whose front page, had a picture of Zac and Vanessa kissing at the park the previous day. The headline: "Zac+VanessaZanessa?" was in bold and capital letters. Vanessa was horrified.

"Who would do such a horrible thing?" she asked Alyson. She shrugged. The first thing that came to her mind was,

Did Zac do this?

**A/N Be sure to review!**


	7. The final chapter

**A/N This is the last chapter. Hope you guys like it!**

Vanessa was furious. She had no idea that Zac would ever do such a thing. Only now, she didn't know how to react to this.

"Vanessa, I know what you're thinking. Zac would never do such a thing. I've been friends with him for quite a long time, and I know that Zac would never even dream of doing anything like this." Alyson tried telling her.

"Alyson, then how do you explain this? No one else was there with us at that time, to hear us or anything like that. And I know that I didn't do this, so it seems to me that Zac is the only other option I have." Vanessa told her firmly. "Where is he?" she asked.

"I think he's in the indoor basketball court." Alyson replied, in a low tone. Just as Vanessa turned to go in search of him, a huge group of girls came to her asking, "Vanessa! Is this really true? Are you guys together or something?" They were giggling.

Vanessa just ignored them and walked outside. She kept walking till she found a door leading to the indoor basketball court. Alyson was coming along.

She opened the door and saw the basketball guys clustered in one place. The moment they heard the door open, they saw Vanessa and she could finally see who was sitting on the step. It was Zac. Anger surged through Vanessa when she saw him. She walked towards him and showed him the paper. "Zac, did you do this?" she asked, in a shaky tone.

Zac looked at the paper, then at Vanessa and got up saying, "What? I would never do such a thing. Did you do it?" he asked.

"Zac, this is only my third day here…do you really think I'd go around doing something as low as this just to get instant popularity? Besides, I didn't even know that this school had a paper!" she yelled back.

"Just because you said you didn't do this, doesn't mean I did. Most of the girls here look for popularity. Why would you be any different?" Zac blurted. Okay, he really didn't want to say that. It just sort of…came out.

Vanessa's heart fell. How could he say something like that? Tears almost came in her eyes. "Zac…listen, I didn't do this." She threw the newspaper near to where he was previously sitting and turned around, and left.

Alyson was left looking at Zac and Vanessa. When Vanessa left, Zac took one last look at the paper, and turned the other side and made his way to the locker room. He went there, and banged the door shut. Alyson stood open-mouthed, "Chad, we have to do something." She said.

"Yeah, we really do. We know that none of those guys did it, so who else will?" he asked. The bell was heard.

"I don't know. But we'd better find that person in the free period. It's two periods before lunch."

Chad nodded, and Alyson bid goodbye.

They went to their classes. Vanessa's third period was chemistry lab. So was Zac's. She was shocked to see Zac there. She went and took her seat somewhere in the last. The teacher came in, and assigned partners.

"Let me see…Josh with Alana. Mary-kate with Linda, Zac with Vanessa, Susan with.." he said. As we can see, Zac and Vanessa were assigned partners. Vanessa sighed, "does this always have to happen?" she asked herself.

The partners were seated together, and Zac came to where Vanessa was sitting. They didn't look at each other, and instead looked at the teacher, who was busy giving instructions. They put on their goggles, and started to follow instructions. Last step, one drop of hydrochloric acid. Zac did this last step, but , oops, he put two drops. The chemical started bubbling. It became green in colour. "Zac, what did you do?" Vanessa asked.

"I don't know! I think I might've put two drops instead of one!" he looked startled.

"Excuse me, Sir," Vanessa called the teacher. He looked at the chemical with astonishment. "What did you children do?" he asked.

"Actually…" Zac began, but too late. The bubbling potion burst out, and Zac, Vanessa and the teacher were covered with something that looked like slime. "Eww." Vanessa said, really disgusted.

"I am appalled that you two did not listen to my instruction carefully. Out of my class, and head to the principal's office!" the teacher yelled.

Vanessa quickly took her bag, and left the class. Zac followed her. Outside, "Zac, couldn't you have just listened to him? He said one drop, didn't he?" she asked. She was annoyed.

"Hey, I know, okay, I tried putting only one drop, but two fell in. What am I supposed to do?" he asked. He was equally annoyed.

"Be more careful?" she replied, "Let's just go to the principal's office now."

They went, still completely covered in the green substance, and were walking in complete silence. They reached his office, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," they heard. Once they were inside, "Zac, Vanessa, your chemistry teacher just called up and told me what had happened. As this was a mistake, the two of you are forgiven. But next time, I suggest that the pair of you listen more carefully in the class." The principal told them.

Zac and Vanessa nodded. "Since I cannot let you roam around our school like this, I give you permission to go to your respective houses and wash up and return by the end of your next period. Am I clear?"

They nodded again. "You may leave." He said.

They thanked him and went outside. Vanessa left, without saying a word. Zac stared after her, but later went home himself.

"Vanessa, you're home so early!" her mom exclaimed, "Yes, I have to clean up and return back to school. I don't have that much time."

After cleaning up, "What happened?" her mom asked.

"Zac and I were doing some experiment, so when he put two drops of an acid, instead of one, we got covered in that slimy thing, and were sent to the principal's office, and now I'm here." She explained.

Her mom smiled. Vanessa said goodbye and left to school again, taking a cab.

When she was there, Alyson caught up with her, "Where have you been this whole free period?" she asked.

Vanessa repeated the entire story. "Wow! That must have been quite an experience!" Alyson laughed. "Well, good our free time isn't over yet. Come with me."

She pulled Vanessa's hand and took her back into the basketball court to see Zac sitting there again, staring at something. "Why have you brought me here?" she asked Alyson.

"Wait and see." She took Vanessa to where the entire group was standing, and saw a boy being held by the players.

"What happened?" she asked them.

"He's what happened. He's the reason you two are fighting." Chad told her.

"What?" She didn't understand.

"Tell her Jeremy." Chad said.

"I overheard you guys talking yesterday and followed you guys on your date." He quickly explained, looking frightened.

"But how? I gave her a text message saying where we'll be going. How did you know that?" Zac asked.

"He followed Vanessa all the way to her house, and waited till she went out or you came to pick her up. He waited the entire time. He pursued you guys till your date was over, and it was he who got the picture of you guys." Chad explained for Jeremy.

Vanessa was completely shocked. "I can't believe it!"

"Actually, you should. He works for the paper. They'd do anything for their front page scoop." Chad said.

"Guess we'd better leave you guys alone." Alyson said, and every one left. Zac and Vanessa were the only ones left behind.

"So guess it's none of us after all!" Vanessa said.

"Yeah, but you still can't do anything about the popular part. Whether we found that guy or not, we still won't be able to take the picture away." Zac replied.

"I know, but don't worry, I can live with that." She smiled and looked at him. He smiled back and the two of them laughed. They hugged each other.

"So, Vanessa, how many people exactly asked you about our date?"

"A million, I think," she said, smiling. "What about you?"

"A million and one, I think." He replied. Vanessa raised her eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm more popular!" he reminded.

"Yeah, right." she said, and pushed him. He pushed her back.

The bell rang.

"This is seriously the best school I've ever been to," Vanessa thought.

**A/N THANKS FOR READING! pls review!**


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